Washing Clothes

Maybe most people don't care, but I think many of my American friends will find some of the day to day differences in how domestic chores are done at least mildly interesting.

I own a washing machine, but it is more like the one my mother had in 1953 than a modern automatic washer.  First, remember that if I want hot water, I have to heat it on a stove.  Second, no place is plumbed for an automatic washer.  That means I have to use a washer that can be wheeled around.  Grace and I put the washer in the shower and used the shower head hose to fill the washing chamber of the machine.  You add bleach and washing powder, let it mix, then add clothes.  You set a timer and the clothes agitate for that time.  The machine works more by shooting jets of water through the tub than by mechanical agitation.  When the timer stops, you pull the clothes out and get as much water out of them as you can, then put them in a big plastic tub of rinse water.  You put a liquid in the rinse water to help get the soap out.  There has to be hand agitation and then wringing out the rinse water.  Next, you put the clothes in a second rinse with fabric softener.  After a little soaking and hand agitation, you ring out the clothes as well as you can, and then put them in the spinner.  This is the second tub of the washer.  While the spinner is getting out as much water as possible, the water comes out a hose, which is why we put the machine in the shower.  After the spinner is done, you take the clothes and hang them to dry.  We pointed a fan at our drying rack to help speed up the process, which in 80% to 90% humidity is on the order of 24 hours.  Strangely enough, Gracie and I were laughing and talking the whole time, so it really wasn't a terrible chore.  If you have more than one load, you add more soap to the wash water before you start the agitation.  After about 4 loads, you need to change the wash water and both tubs of rinse water.

We found that the wash water needs to be changed more often, and that 3 rinses work better than 2.  By getting all the soap out of the clothes, it helps them dry softer and without the stiffness we had in our first batch.  We are changing wash water after 2 loads now.  Joan says she changes wash water after every load, and we can see conditions where that is a good idea.  It seems like the wash water for a load of whites isn't that dirty and can be reused.